


Finding Home

by hotleafjuice



Series: Sons and Daughters of Skyrim [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Families of Choice, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 16:05:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4752470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotleafjuice/pseuds/hotleafjuice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knew about the little girl selling flowers by the gates</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Home

_Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves._

_-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin_

 

 

 

Windhelm

4E 200

 

Revyn shivered in his cloak, his hands shaking so badly that the key scratched the lock twice before he could open the door. He figured the shop's door could take the abuse; it hadn't fallen in yet. He hated this time of day, the small hours just before dawn where the only sound was the rush of icy wind and his breath came forth in clouds.

He wasn't the only starting the day so early. Nearly everyday like clockwork, the orphan girl Sofie would round the bend. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that she slept on the streets. For all of Ulfric's talk of Skyrim for the Nords and Nord pride, he had no problem letting the smallest people of his city suffer. Everyday, she came bearing the same worn basket filled with flowers that she collected from beyond the city's walls. The poor girl was treated no better than his own people or the Argonians.

Revyn watched her pass before shutting the door to his shop. As much as he hated Windhelm, and the Gray Quarter, and sometimes just Nords in general, he felt bad for Sofie. She could not be more than ten summers. Occasionally, he or his sister would pass by the gates, giving her leftover food and sometimes lukewarm tea. She always tried to give them flowers in return, but they always gently rebuffed her.

Sparks of fire threw the shop's interior in strange shapes. Revyn snapped his fingers again, using just enough magic to light the first lantern he saw. It took awhile to get a good fire going. Nils down at Candlehearth Hall always sold him young, wet wood that sputtered and gasped before finally catching. Revyn figured to old bastard didn't realize that Dunmer fire burned as hot as Red Mountain lava.

The day proceeded like the many before it: Idesa, late, the Atheron siblings bickering and stealing the last of breakfast, and cue the drunken Nord stumbling through the the district going on about gray-skins and Imperial spies.

The snow started around noon, blotting out the sun. Winter set in early in this part of Skyrim though Windhelm never completely thawed out no matter the season. The shop's windows rattled with the wind, and Revyn tried to seal some of the cracks with cheap cloth. He had a feeling it was going to be a slow day.

The next day followed much the same and so the day after that.

Revyn was locking up for the night when he heard the coughing. Sofie stood with her little worn basket in her worn clothes and shook with the force of her coughs. A frown tugged at the corners of Revyn's mouth. She didn't even notice him approach her. With wind burned cheeks and a runny nose, she still tried to sell him flowers. Revyn gently took the basket from her. “The weather's only going to get worse. Even Nords can freeze to death.”

“No where to go,” she murmured, her eyes closing.

He scooped Sofie up with a “Nerevar give me strength.” Idesa would probably dote on the girl some. He hoped so anyway. Revyn's hopes were dashed when he discovered his sister absent. The child looked up at him with glassy eyes, her lips chapped but faintly smiling. There was not much room, but he made due with his own bed piled with nearly every blanket he owned. It was going to be a long night.

It took two days for Sofie's fever to break, and Revyn went from worry to annoyance to panic. He had no doubt if she died he would spend the rest of his very short life in the dungeons below the Jarl's palace. Idesa stopped in occasionally, bringing food and a few weak healing elixirs she got from Aval Atheron. Luckily, a few of his fellow Dunmer managed the shop in his absence.

Sofie was a mild-mannered, polite, and very curious little girl. Revyn was glad to see her on her feet, but the questions were endless: why did he take her in, why did he and his sister give her food, was he going to be her father now, why are dark elves gray, do all dark elves have red eyes, could she help him at the store. That last one gave him pause.

Surprisingly, no one had much to say about Revyn's new charge. Sofie became a fixture at Sadri's Used Wares as she had always been there. She cleaned and helped sort new merchandise. Idesa sewed a few dresses, mostly red. Sofie liked red, said it was like the dark elves' eyes. She kept her flower basket, standing outside the shop on mild days. Most of the Gray Quarter's residents seemed fond of her, and the guards always paused outside as though contemplating on whether or not to take Sofie away.

The rest of winter passed uneventfully. Revyn had a stroke of luck with some of the merchandise that came through the store. He held onto the tentative hope that his fortunes were changing. All that came crashing down with the discovery that one of the rings he bought had been stolen from Viola Giordano. She would not hesitate to have him clapped in irons. He would lose his shop. He would lose his home. He would lose his family. And knowing that a Dunmer could never get justice in Windhelm, he knew that he would very well lose his life.

Sofie knew that something was wrong. Revyn had been acting strangely the last few days. She heard him snap at his sister then apologize. She knew that he did not sleep because the light never went out in his room. She could see his door from her cot. There was hurried, hushed conversations, and constant looking over his shoulder. A sudden fear gripped her, thinking someone was coming to take her away. She didn't want to go. She liked Revyn and his ash-yam porridge, and Idesa with her soft voice and calloused fingers that always caught on the fabric of her dress.

Sofie tucked herself into a tight corner between the wall and shelving behind the counter. Revyn and Aval spoke rapidly in Dumeris, and the only words she understood were the ones that didn't translate—places and names. She knew something was very wrong. Aval left as quickly as he came. Revyn heaved an enormous sigh that caused a nearby candle to sputter and die. Sofie took it upon herself to find out what was happening.

Revyn noticed that Sofie had been making herself scarce lately. He wondered if his foul mood had put her off. She still helped around the shop but always out of sight. At home, she clung to Idesa.

Just before the store closed, a tall, thin Imperial ducked inside. He was dressed head to toe in furs, and he was obviously miserable as he shook off the snow. He had the reddest hair that Sofie had ever seen, and he introduced himself as Averen. His smile was wide, showing off deep lines around his mouth. “Aval sent me. Said you had something for me.”

Revyn frowned. “I don't know what you're--”

“Viola Giordano,” Averen cut in, his accent lilting. “I've done some work for Aval before. He'll vouch for me. And I'll get the ring back in that old shrew's house without anyone being the wiser. She'll just think she misplaced it. Simple.” He shrugged easily.

For a moment, Revyn was a loss for words. He didn't want to trust a complete stranger, especially some outsider. Aval had never steered him wrong before. “Just... poke around a bit. See if you can actually pull this off.”

Averen gave him another lazy shrug. “Alright then.”

Everyone in Windhelm knew who Widow Giordano was, a loud-mouthed busybody with too much time and money. Sofie didn't like Viola because she was mean to Dark Elves. She also didn't like that Revyn could get in so much trouble over a stupid ring.

It took only a few hours to find where Revyn had stashed the ring. It was a pretty thing, bright gold with a single ruby set in the band. The ruby reminded Sofie of Dark Elves' eyes. She tucked the ring at the bottom of her flower basket. And the next morning, wrapped in her warmest clothes, she went all over the city. She stopped at the marketplace at see Aval, and he sneaked her a piece of candy. She stood near Oengul's forge to warm up and tried to sell some flowers near Candlehearth Hall.

Sofie's fingers were starting to go numb when she saw Viola leave the temple. Gathering her resolve, she clutched the ring tightly in her left hand and reminded herself that she was doing this for Revyn. She had hazy recollections of him taking care of her when she was so ill, and in her fever dreams, she thought it was her father wiping the sweat from her brow.

With those thoughts, she marched toward the old woman, putting on her sweetest smile. “Mistress Giordano!” She held her flower basket aloft. “Would you like to buy some flowers?”

Viola looked down at Sofie, the woman tall even for a Nord. “Why would I want flowers from a little street urchin?” Her tone wasn't cruel but rather genuinely curious. “Especially one that lives with those gray-skins.” Sofie tried to keep her smile from withering.

“I picked these this morning,” she lied smoothly, her voice all childish innocence. She moved closer to Viola, practically crowding her with the basket. “Please?”

Viola sniffed disdainfully. “Fine. One.” Sofie looked through the brightly colored flowers. A patch of ice made her trip forward, and she and Viola hit the ground with flowers raining down around them.

Viola squawked indignantly while Sofie repeated, “I'm sorry, so sorry,” over and over again. She grabbed the woman tightly as if to help her up. Being small had its advantages. By the time Sofie backed away and Viola stormed off toward her house, the ring rested in one of pockets of the old woman's apron.

Sofie managed to catch Revyn coming out of his store. She cut off his questions about her disheveled appearance with an “I fell.” He eyed her for a moment, taking in the dirty wet patches on her clothes and the small white flowers tangled in her tawny hair. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he hustled his charge home.

Averen came back two days later, his mouth spread wide in another grin. “My friend! I have the answer to your problem.” Revyn looked decidedly unimpressed, but he trusted Aval and so he would extend some of that to this brash Imperial.

Revyn's unease turned into panic when he tried to find the ring. He knew it was right here, tucked between a stack of plates. He nearly broke them in his haste. Sofie emerged from the back when one of the smaller plates did indeed hit the floor. “What in Oblivion...” he muttered, his words trailing off in Dumeris. Averen's brow was wrinkled in confusion.

“Revyn,” Sofie said, her voice soft, but it stopped him, “I took it.” His eyes closed.

“Why?”

“Because I didn't want you to get in trouble.” Her small fingers twisted in the folds of her dress. “And you didn't want help from the red haired man.”

Averen's expression smoothed into something like impressed. “Did you actually manage to get the ring in her house.”

Sofie shook her head. “I put it in her pocket when I fell on her.” Averen barked out a short laugh. Revyn looked stricken.

“If you had gotten caught...” Revyn didn't want to think that the guards would arrest a little girl. No, they would probably arrest him for corrupting her. “Sofie...” He didn't quite know what to say.

“Please don't be mad. I wanted to help like you helped me.” She frowned. “I was alone after papa died. There was no one, but you were nice to me before. You gave me those bread things with the stuff inside, and sometimes Idesa gave me a warm drink. I... got sick from sleeping outside. I remember. You touched my hair like papa used to. You sang too, like him, but with different words.”

Averen looked between the two of them. “I'll go by the marketplace and see Aval before I leave.” He left wondering if he was still going to get paid for two wasted days.

Revyn stared down at Sofie, his expression unreadable. He truly did not know what to say. He did not put much thought into taking the girl in, and Idesa didn't seem too upset by the extra mouth to feed. Eventually, he just nodded.

“Are you mad?”

“No.” He looked sad. “I wasn't mad. I was worried. I just... I guess that just comes with being a... parent.”

“Is it alright if I call you papa now?” Her voice warbled slightly at the end.

“Yes.”

Her answering smile was like sunshine.


End file.
